Embodiments described herein are related to the field of drug delivery compositions and to the uses thereof, especially in medicine and health care and in particular localized medical delivery of drugs.
A large number of pharmaceutically active compounds have not achieved clinical applications due to poor bioavailability (Kidane and Bhatt, 2005 Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol., 9: 347-51). The route of clinical administration plays a big role in the physiological and metabolic properties of the drugs, and when systemic distribution is used, it often triggers side effects that outweigh the therapeutic benefits of treatment (Wang et al. Drug delivery: principles and applications. John Wiley and Sons, NJ (2005)). Localized therapeutics with controlled released provide an alternative route in regulating the bioavailability of the pharmaceutical agents. This can lead to therapies with decreased side effects and lower minimum effective dose required for clinical results.
Nanocarriers for drug delivery are nanomaterials used as a transport means for a drug. Nanocarriers possess unique characteristics that show potential for use in drug delivery. Although many nanocarriers have been reported before (Ganta et al. 2008 J. Control. Release, 126: 187-204), there is a continuing need for nanocarriers that deliver drugs more effectively, are easy to produce, and deliver drugs with appropriate dosages upon appropriate stimuli.
Three dimensional (3D) printing has shown promise as a means to prepare drug delivery systems that improve the timing of delivery, dose of the drug, location of delivery, cost of manufacture, etc. 3D printing also provides the ability to create custom delivery systems tailored for the individual patient. However, a major limitation to the use of 3D printing for drug delivery systems is the limited number of materials that are both biocompatible and capable of being used as an ink and/or filament in 3D printing. Further, the conditions required to produce an ink and/or filament that flows sufficiently for 3D printing and the conditions for curing the ink/filament once printed can also limit the compatibility of 3D printing with a drug of choice.
Thus, there is a need for additional 3D printing solutions that are compatible with a large range of drug delivery systems and drugs.